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attingo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word attingo

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*teh₂g-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [atˈtɪŋ.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [atˈtiŋ.ɡo][1]

Forms

attingō (present infinitive attingere, perfect active attigī, supine attāctum); third conjugation[1] Plautus and Accius have the old subjunctive attigās.[2]

Etymology

It is from ad- and tangō “to touch”.[2][1] De Vaan traces ⟨tangō⟩ to the nasal present Proto-Indo-European *th₂-n-g- (“to touch”), cognate with Gothic 𐍄𐌴𐌺𐌰𐌽 (tekan, “to touch”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of touching, and Plautus has aliquem digitō attingere “to touch someone with a finger”.[2][4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to touch, to lay a finger on someone, and to put one's finger on a point, all in Plautus.[2] In Cicero it meant to adjoin, to reach a place, to take up an activity, to move or affect, to attain an aim, and to be related by blood; in Virgil it meant to reach as far as.[2] Plautus also used it for mentioning briefly.[2]

It survives in Italian attingere, Romanian atinge and Spanish atañer, and through Old French ataindre it gave English attain about 1300, first “to succeed in reaching”.[1][6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of touching.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of attaining.[2][5]
  • c. 1300 – English attain is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To touch.[2]
  2. To adjoin; to reach.[2]
  3. To take up, engage in.[2]
  4. To touch on, mention.[2]
  5. To affect.[2]
  6. To attain.[2]
  7. To be related to.[2]

Word family

  • attāctus
  • attiguus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Attingo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/attingo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·